Why Did Bob Ross Show Up at So Many Halloween Parties?

Here at Dan’s Papers and danspapers.com, we like to think that we are on top of the latest local trends, but there is one Halloween 2013 trend in the Hamptons that has eluded us: Bob Ross costumes.

Ross, an artist who created and hosted The Joy of Painting on PBS, died back in 1995. So why are Bob Ross costumes so popular this year? Did we miss something this year about Ross that makes a Bob Ross so topical this Halloween?

The costume is unmistakable: a big afro, a beard, a blue button-down shirt and a painter’s palette.